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Video: Travelers rank ‘Travel’s’ best

Transcript of: Travelers rank ‘Travel’s’ best

AL ROKER reporting:This morning on
TODAY'S TRAVEL
, the best bets. Whether you're looking for a cheap family vacation spot or the best
national parks
,
Budget Travel
magazine polled its own intrepid travelers for their top picks. And here with the
2010
Readers'
Choice Awards
is
Nina Willdorf
, the magazine's editor-in-chief. Good morning,
Nina
.

ROKER:So you guys got a huge response. Were you surprised at how big the response was?

Ms. WILLDORF:We were blown away. I mean, we knew we had an engaged readership but 164,000 votes is incredible. And we're giving this over to them. Our October issue is going to be built entirely around their favorite things, including the cover, which you can vote on today at budgettravel.com.

ROKER:OK, so talk about surprises. Most
Beautiful City
in the
World
, and it

went to:San Francisco
. This is actually where I'm from. It was a bit of a surprise for us. We were all sort of expecting
Paris
to win. But what we found out was something across this poll, people are very into
America right
now. And
San Francisco
obviously has so many things to celebrate. The hills, the cable cars, the water.

Ms. WILLDORF:Mm-hmm.

ROKER:It's just undeniably beautiful.

Ms. WILLDORF:It certainly is. Now,
Best Family Vacation Spot
kind of combines a little history with the ability to go to some
theme parks
.

ROKER:Absolutely.
Williamsburg
, Virginia. You know, again, we were sort of expecting
Disney World
to win;
Williamsburg
won. You've got the
Colonial Williamsburg
, it's an affordable place to go. You can see re-creations, etc.
Thirty-six
dollars a ticket for an adult, which is about half the price of a normal
theme park
.

Ms. WILLDORF:Now when we go to
national parks
, I don't know if this is a surprise,
Yellowstone
,
Best Park
.

ROKER:This was not a surprise. I mean, it's the oldest
national park
, it's the most popular. Last year it had -- it broke attendance records with 3.3 million. This was -- it's sort of a classic. You've got
Old Faithful
.

Ms. WILLDORF:Mm-hmm.

ROKER:I mean, what more is there to say?

Ms. WILLDORF:Now, a lot of cruise lines out there, but
Royal Caribbean
came out on top.

ROKER:Yeah.
Royal Caribbean
is having a banner year, and bigger is better in their world. They came out with
Oasis of the Seas
in
2009
. Six thousand people on that ship. This year another big one,
Allure of the Seas
in December. So anything you want to do on one of their lines, you can do, including shrake -- shake
Shrek
's hand.

Ms. WILLDORF:But usually when you think islands I think the
Caribbean
.

ROKER:Exactly.

Ms. WILLDORF:Not so this -- for your readers.

ROKER:Yeah, this was a bit of a surprise. We got
Maui
.
And I
think one of the reasons is that, you know,
Hawaii
has been especially affordable over the past year, and the deals are just there. In fact,
Hawaiian Airlines
is running a promotion right now called
Endless Summer
that they're extending through the fall.
Round-trip
air fare from the
West Coast
to
Maui
, $308.

Ms. WILLDORF:Wow.

ROKER:And so, you know, the value is really there for travelers. You get to the beach, you get the
Haleakala
volcano. It's great.

Ms. WILLDORF:Economy's kind of tough, but people still looking for that affordable exotic vacation. And the
Dominican Republic
came out on top.

ROKER:Dominican Republic
won, and it's sort of set to overtake
Jamaica
, we think, in terms of popularity in the -- in the
Caribbean
. One of the reasons, airfares are really kind right now. They're down about 8 percent to the
Dominican Republic
, which is great, and the peso-to-dollar ratio is really remaining low. And you've got all-inclusive resorts.

Ms. WILLDORF:Mm-hmm.

ROKER:It's really that kind of easy island escape close to home.

Ms. WILLDORF:People like to shop when they go on vacation.

ROKER:Yeah.

Ms. WILLDORF:Big Apple
, number one.

ROKER:Here we are! So, you know, I always say like there -- you can either get something for the most expensive or the least expensive...

Ms. WILLDORF:Mm-hmm.

ROKER:...in New York. And whether you're walking down
Fifth Avenue
or going to the sample sales in the
garment district
, the flower district, it's a bounty in
New York City
and our readers loved it.

Ms. WILLDORF:And then airlines are always getting a bum rap.
Southwest Airlines
did pretty well for you, number one. Rental cars,
Enterprise
won.

ROKER:Enterprise
.

Ms. WILLDORF:And then for folks who like those apps.

ROKER:Yes.

Ms. WILLDORF:You say the number one app for your readers,
Flight Tracker
.

ROKER:Flight Tracker
, 4.99 for this app. You're holding in your hand all the information that you're going to need if your flight gets canceled. It has information on
1400
airlines. So don't wait in line. Just pull out this app.

Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra told a news conference that the award offers a morale boost to the battered capital and called on political protesters to behave themselves. The recent political upheaval prompted dozens of international travel advisories and emptied hotels.

"What we have in our hands is very precious," said Sukhumbhand. "We must prevent troubles and any more losses from happening in our beloved city. We should not damage it any further."

A grenade explosion Sunday in a central Bangkok shopping area killed one person and wounded 10. Authorities have declined to speculate if it was politically related.

The No. 1 ranking in the magazine's top 10 cities list appears in the August edition of Travel + Leisure, which was based on a poll of readers who cast votes from December to March to rate their favorite cities, islands, hotels, airlines and other categories. Nearly 16,000 readers participated. The polling stopped a few days before civil disorder erupted in Bangkok that lasted 10 weeks and ended May 19 with nearly 90 dead and 1,400 hurt.

During the chaos, several top hotels and upscale department stores closed because they were surrounded by thousands of anti-government protesters. Dozens of buildings were damaged or burned as the protests were broken up in a military crackdown.

Nationwide hotel occupancy in May — the end of tourism's high season — was 32 percent, down 10 percent from the same period last year, said Prakit Chinamornpong, president of Thai Hotels Association.

The Bangkok governor visited New York last week to pick up the award from the magazine's publishers and said he met with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and asked for advice about New York's post 9-11 recovery.

"'Bad things happened, but we must move forward. We can't stop. We must keep up the morale.' That's what Mayor Bloomberg told me," he said.

New York City ranked 10th among favorite cities in the poll. Second was the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, followed by Florence, Italy; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; and Rome.